Hey Junk Mailers!
We have warnings listed on the Junk Mail website for avoiding scams when buying or selling an item via one of our services, but 2 new types of scams have made their appearance that we have deemed necessary to discuss in a blog post in detail.
There is an advertiser who submits adverts with the sole purpose of scamming our users. If you receive an e-mail from transactions@junkmail.co.za or junkmail@representative.com please report the advert you responded to via our "Report Advert" option provided for each advert on the website.
This is a copy of the e-mail that the person is sending around to users when they respond to the adverts, claiming to be from the "Junk Mail Trust and Safety Department" and part of the "Junk Mail Team":
"Dear Junk Mail Customer,
Thank you for reporting this to us. Please be assured that we understand your concerns if this is a genuine transaction. The seller and the ad in question are legitimate. You are buying from a Junk Mail Trade Member. The seller has a R 100,000.00 deposit in an Junk Mail purchase protection account and a 10 days refund policy is included. The transaction is 100% safe! The next step is to complete the payment via Western Union/Money Gram!
You are buying from a Verified Trader and you will receive the vehicle in maxx 3 days at your address after the payment has been made. The vehicle comes with a clear title and without any finance on it. As you already know this is a Unique Transaction because you are dealing with a Business Company and not a private person. They are a Verified Member since 2006 and we assure you that the transaction is 100% safe again! Please NOTE that your Invoice is available only 24 Hours so you must to make the transfer of the funds if you want to buy the vehicle. We will not release the payment details to your seller because first we must to receive the confirmation from you that you want to buy the vehicle!
You will find a Western Union office or at your Local Post Office, please go there in person and initiate the transfer in cash by following our instructions located on your Invoice. Please check again and if you have any other questions, please pu t you rself in contact with us using our Live Chat located on your Invoice and have an Online Chat with one of our available Agent for your transaction!
Money Gram in South Africa work with this banks : StandardBank , BidVestBank or ReniseBank.
If the Western Union/Money Gram operator will ask details about this transaction please don't tell this is a Junk Mail transaction because they will ask you to pay more fees for an online purchase. Please tell them that you make the transfer to a relative of yours because you have some debts to pay.
This transaction has been accepted and is endorsed by our Safe Trade Department.
Kind regards,
The Junk Mail-team"
This person is NOT a "Verified Trader" with us. Junk Mail does not have "Verified Traders" or a "Trust and Safety Department". We do not get involved in transactions between buyers and sellers. We are an advertising medium.
Another scammer is claiming that he / she needs money to ship the vehicle (which they've advertised with us) which can be paid via the popular auction website Ebay. This is a blatant scam and users should ignore this person and report the adverts placed by him / her to Junk Mail. If you read the e-mail it comes to mind that there's port near or in Musina in South Africa (it's nowhere near an ocean).
This is the E-mail going around
"Hello again,
I'm realy sorry for you but i think is to late for inspection because i'm not in the country for the moment (like you know i just finished the divorce with my husband and i have moved to my parents home in London,United Kingdom for a while.) And ship company already prepared the boat for ship. I want to tell you that is to late for inspection and the only way that we can close this deal is to make a deposit(R 29,000.00) to eBay so i could start the ship. In case that you are still interested please email me your final answer.
I will ship my boat from Musina/South Africa. You will have 15 days from the time you receive the boat to inspect it and decide if you want to keep it or not. If by any reason, you will not be satisfied for the boat, you will return the boat to shipping company with no xpence. I will pay for shipping.
If you are interested in buying it please provide me your full name and address so I can initiate the deal through eBay.Thank you and have a nice day.
Jennifer G Diamond."
We are working on ways to prevent scammers from advertising / responding to advertisements on our website to make it safer for our users. Please, be alert and vigilant and remember if something sounds to good to be true it usually isn't true.
Feel free to report scams by using the "Report Advert" option provided for each advert on our website or report the scam you find via e-mail to ccc@junkmail.co.za
Regards
Henno Kruger
Junk Mail Online Marketing Department
Just want to share this with everyone. This almost happened to my son, when he saw a Honda cbr 600 2007 model on Plum.co.za going for R39000, to good to be true. There is also complaints on hellopeter.com ,searc for plum.co.za or look for the name teresa alcantarez Have a look at the folowing URL'S
http://www.hellopeter.com/plumcoza-complaint-[400666]
http://www.hellopeter.com/teresa-alcantarez-complaint-[415782]
http://www.plum.co.za/marketplace-search?q=teresa&l=0
Thank you for making the Junk Mail community aware of this. All the adverts we receive from users are moderated. We also employ a Scam buster to keep our users safe and we remove all adverts that have been flagged as fraudulent by users.
Hi
I also saw this advert on another website Plum but with 3 other cars also for R118000. We contacted her and this was also her reply: (we checked the VIN and engin number that she gave and it does not exist)
Hi,
First of all I want to thank you for your interest.If you are willing to proceed with the transaction, we will use the services provided by eBay to supervise the transaction.My car is now in Cape Town and i will ship from there to all South Africa.Ship will take between 1 and 3 days and it will be shipped with a truck.Maybe your next question will be why i sell at this price R 118000 and to avoid this i want to advise you that i just finished the divorce with my husband.When the divorce was finished i own this car.Now i will move to my parents home for a while and i don't need this car.I used last month and of course the maintenance was done a month ago.This car is in excellent working conditions, no scratches, flaws or any kind of damage, slightly used in 100% working and looking conditions and comes with a clear title, and transferable warranty.Like i told the final price is R 118000 including shipping and handling.
In case that you are interested regarding my car then send me your full name and shipping address(street,city,zip code,ID Number,country) so i could contact eBay with your details to send you more info and all the details.Thank you and have a lovely day.Like i told the total price is R118000 including shipping and handling so all you must to do is to confirm to eBay just the deposit R37000.When eBay will announce me that the funds are in the system i will start the shipping to your address.You have ten days to test my car and after the inspection period in case that you are not agree to keep the car then you will be refunded by eBay as money back and i will pay the ship back to my address,but if you are agree with my car(and I'm sure that you will keep the car,very good condition) then you must to confirm the rest of the money R81000.
P.S.If you are still interested to buy my car then send me your full name and shipping address(street,city,zip code,country,id number) and then i will contact eBay and they will send you the invoice for payment and all the information. pampowell@gmx.com
Hi there. 6 months has gone by and it is still om Plum.co.za
Hi,
I saw a car advert on bidorbuy and contacted the seller Pamela Powell - and the next day she was blacklisted.
It is a C-class merc c250 2009 model and she wants to sell the car for R166000.00.
This is the mail I recieved:Hi,
First of all I want to thank you for your interest.If you are willing to proceed with the transaction, we will use the services provided by eBay to supervise the transaction.My car is now in Cape Town and i will ship from there to all South Africa.Ship will take between 1 and 3 days and it will be shipped with a truck.Maybe your next question will be why i sell at this price R 166000 and to avoid this i want to advise you that i just finished the divorce with my husband.When the divorce was finished i own this car.Now i will move to my parents home for a while and i don't need this car.I used last month and of course the maintenance was done a month ago.This car is in excellent working conditions, no scratches, flaws or any kind of damage, slightly used in 100% working and looking conditions and comes with a clear title, and transferable warranty.Like i told the final price is R 166000 including shipping and handling.
In case that you are interested regarding my car then send me your full name and shipping address so i could contact eBay with your details to send you more info and all the details.Thank you and have a lovely day.
Her address on biborbuy indicated Johannesburg & the car was in Cape Town and suddenly she was at her parents in Florida US. I tried to phone her but the phone just disconect. I mail her to say that the bank will contact before they can arrange the finance and payment, This was the reply:
I want to tell you that for the beginning you must to have only R37000 regarding the deposit,then you must to confirm the rest of the money after you receive the car and of course after the ten days inspection period so after you receive the car you have ten days to confirm the rest of the money.When you will have the money regarding the deposit all you have to do is to follow your invoice and locate to your nearest Money Gram office with money cash in your hand and make the payment.After you make the payment you must fax the payment receipt to one of eBay fax numbers that you have on your invoice page.
P.S My phone is 0866623068 but i want to advise you that 2 days ago I had a vocal chords surgery and my doctor recommended me not to speak for a while(1 week).We must communicate by emails if is not a problem.Thank you in advance for your understanding.
When I red the mail from Jennifer Diamond, I new this was a scam.
I have reported lot of ads on Junkmail, and I am really happy to see these ads are quickly removed by your staff. But I have seen a big increase in the number of these ads in the last few weeks. I know you guys do try to check every ad and delete the scams. But what are you doing to stopping these criminals from placing ads? I love you site, and use it every day. But it's just so frustrating.coming across all this rubbish in between the real good bargains. .. and then not to mention the chancers that reply to my ads when I place an ad.
Thank you for your comment. We do realize the seriousness of this matter and we do make removing fraudulent adverts from the website one of our top priorities. We realize that our users are concerned about the amount of criminal activity that has been sticking out it's head. For this reason we are working on a method that will limit or prevent these fraudsters from placing adverts on the website and also on a method that will limit or prevent fraudulent responses. Happy Bargain Hunting with Junk Mail - just remember to be safe, savvy and smart. Be safe in any trade.
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I placed an add on JunkMail for some home gaming equipment and immediately received multiple emails and even sms's about how they wanted the product, in this case clearly fraudulent.
Two of the e-mails explained how a relative was living in Nigeria wanted the product and would I please send it there and they would conduct the payment here. Obviously a scam so I ignored those. The sms almost got me, with an interest from a guy here in JHB. He wanted my bank details for deposit and then I was to drop the product off with a relative who would give me the copy of the confirmation of payment, in downtown JHB.
So watch out, the best bet is to wait for your money in your account, or transacting through other electronic means, before releasing any goods.